Shearing Wisdom: Life lessons from the shearing shed

It's the eve of our final day of shearing, and it feels like we have been shearing forever, even if it's just been a month (with a week and a few days off here and there). For us, shearing is all hands on deck. My roles vary from getting sheep in, helping drafting (my 9 year old is a gun drafter), roustabouting, and probably the most important one - making sure everyone is fed. When I was working full time as a psychologist, I used to daydrea…

I'm a psychologist and a mental health advocate, and I want to let you in on a few secrets.

I don't do 30 minutes of exercise daily;

I don't practice 20 minutes of mindfulness daily;

I don't set an intention or affirmation for the day before I mindfully get myself out of bed, journal for 20 minutes, and approach the day with a smile on my face - every day;

I do get angry

I do yell

I do get sad

I do cry

I do get overwhelmed

and yes, I absolutely get frustrated, disappointed, regretful, a…

Where to begin?

Is there ever a perfect space, place or time to begin?

This year I have found myself more and more in the place of farm.life.psych - the parts of my life merge together, frequently overlapping. And I guess that makes perfect sense - because it is all part of me. I can't switch off my psychologist, thinking, creating, imagining brain when I'm farming. Although, the focus on the farm job in front of me often creates clarity that I struggle to find when I sit down at my computer.